UNESCO's draft resolution, sponsored by several Arab countries, uses only the Islamic name for a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, which includes the Western Wall, a remnant of the biblical temple and the holiest site where Jews can pray. The validated resolution is expected early next week, but the wording is unlikely to change.Israelis and many Jews around the world viewed it as the latest example of an ingrained anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said he was "outraged" by the resolution. "Would UNESCO vote to deny the Christian connection to the Vatican? Or the Muslim connection to Mecca? The UNESCO vote claims that there is no connection between the Jewish people and the Western Wall. In fact, it is the UNESCO vote that has no connection to reality."Education Minister Naftali Bennett informed UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova of Israel's decision on Friday.

"Following the shameful decision by UNESCO members to deny history and ignore thousands of years of Jewish ties to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, I have notified the Israel National Commission for UNESCO to suspend all professional activities with the international organization," Bennett said.

Israel captured east Jerusalem, with sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestinians claim the territory as part of their future state, and its fate is a central dispute.

Jews refer to the hilltop compound in Jerusalem's Old City as the Temple Mount, site of the two Jewish biblical temples. Muslims refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary, and it is home to the Al-Aqsa mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock. It is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

"The heritage of Jerusalem is indivisible, and each of its communities has a right to the explicit recognition of their history and relationship with the city," Bokova, the head of UNESCO, said in a statement, the second time that she has condemned the the body that she heads for its treatment of the Jewish connection to Jerusalem.

"To deny, conceal or erase any of the Jewish, Christian or Muslim traditions undermines the integrity of the site, and runs counter to the reasons that justified its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

"Nowhere more than in Jerusalem do Jewish, Christian and Muslim heritage and traditions share space and interweave to the point that they support each other," she continued. "These cultural and spiritual traditions build on texts and references, known by all, that are an intrinsic part of the identities and history of peoples. In the Torah, Jerusalem is the capital of King David, where Solomon built the Temple and placed the Ark of the Covenant.

In the Bible, Jerusalem is the city of the passion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the Koran, Jerusalem is the third holiest site in Islam, where Muhammad arrived after his night journey from Al Haram Mosq (Mecca) to Al Aqsa."

"In this microcosm of humanity’s spiritual diversity, different peoples worship the same places, sometimes under different names. The recognition, use of and respect for these names is paramount. The Al Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram al-Sharif, the sacred shrine of Muslims, is also the Har HaBayit – or Temple Mount – whose Western Wall is the holiest place in Judaism, a few steps away from the Saint Sepulcher and the Mount of Olives trees revered by Christians," she said.

"The outstanding universal value of the City, and the reason why it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, lies in this synthesis, which is an appeal for dialogue, not confrontation. We have a collective responsibility to strengthen this cultural and religious coexistence, by the power of acts and also by the power of words. This requirement is stronger than ever, to bridge the divisions that harm the multi-faith character of the Old City."

The Israeli groups, Peace Now and Ir Amim, have recently released a joint report on Israel’s settlement expansion in Batan al-Hawa neighborhood of Silwan, the most sensitive and volatile areas in Occupied Jerusalem.

The report, titled “Broken Trust: State Involvement in Private Settlement in Batan Al-Hawa, Silwan,” describes how, since 2001, the government-backed Ateret Cohanim settler organization has been working on transforming Batan al-Hawa into a large Israeli settlement through questionable acquisition of Palestinian properties and forced eviction and removal of Palestinian families who have lived in the neighborhood for decades.

The report warned that Batan al-Hawa would become the largest settlement compound in a Palestinian neighborhood in the Historic Basin of the Old City, significantly contributing to the emerging ring of settlements around the Old City, creating an irreversible reality and severely undermining the possibility of a future two-state solution.

Ateret Cohanim’s frenzied attempts to take over the Palestinian neighborhood threaten to displace 100 families, composed of 600 Palestinians, from their homes.

By the end of 2015, the settler organization had quadrupled the number of housing units in its possession, taking over a total of some 27 units in six buildings in the neighborhood. There are also 12 other Palestinian units, where an additional 51 families are living, currently pending eviction claims.

The groups accused the government of acting through the General Custodian and the Registrar of Trusts, both under the Israeli ministry of justice, to facilitate settlers’ seizure of Batan al-Hawa, as well as providing roughly one million shekels each year to fund private security to radical settlers in the hearts of Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.

“The settlement in Batan al-Hawa is an integral part of efforts by settler organizations and Israeli authorities to consolidate Jewish control of the Old City and the surrounding Palestinian neighborhoods, to create an irreversible reality in the Holy Basin around the Old City that deliberately subverts efforts to negotiate an agreed political resolution on Jerusalem,” the groups warned.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is expected to vote on a resolution proposal that ‘denies Jewish connections to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound & the Dome of the Rock, which is called the Temple Mount and Western Wall by Israelis, in Jerusalem, the Ha’aretz daily reported.

The proposal, presented by the Palestinians, along with Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and Sudan, condemns Israel on several issues related to Jerusalem and its holy sites.

Haaretz additionally reported that the proposal “acknowledges that the city of Jerusalem is holy to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity but says the Temple Mount holy site is sacred only to Muslims and fails to mention its significance to Jews.”

According to Israeli narrative, the site is considered Judaism’s holiest site. In Islam, it counts as the first Qiblah (prayer direction), and third holiest place.Israel has, in the recent past, carried multiple excavations under the the mosque, putting it in danger.

The state condemned the resolution as “an attempt to rewrite history in a dangerous, unfair and one-sided manner.”

In addition, the Israeli foreign ministry published a brochure featuring “archaeological findings providing evidence of Jewish connections to Jerusalem generally and specifically to the Temple Mount complex,” as reported by i24.

According to the PNN, UNESCO passed a similar resolution in April referring to the Temple Mount soley as Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall as the Al-Buraq Plaza drawing harsh condemnations from Israel.

The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) denied Wednesday Palestinian worshipers’ entry to the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of al-Khalil.

Director of the Endowment Department Ismail Abu Halawa told the PIC reporter that Israeli forces closed the Ibrahimi Mosque under the pretext of the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday.

Earlier on 3, 4, and 6 October, Israeli forces closed the Mosque before Palestinian worshipers under the same pretext, he added.

He pointed out that Israeli authorities have notified the department that the mosque would be closed to non-Jews on Oct. 18 and 19.

Severe restrictions for Palestinians including being denied access to the Ibrahimi Mosque are typically implemented by the Israeli authorities during Jewish holidays for alleged security purposes.

The recent ban on Palestinian worshipers came as Israeli forces enforced a series of closures and heightened security operations throughout the occupied West Bank and occupied Jerusalem due to the start of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

Israeli soldiers invaded, on Monday at night, the ‘Aida refugee camp, north of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, shot and injured three young men with live fire, during clashes that took place in the camp.

Medical sources said the soldiers shot three young men with live fire, and that two of them were shot in their legs, and one in his shoulder, causing moderate injuries.

The clashes took place near Bilal Bin Rabah mosque, at the northern entrance of the refugee camp, after the soldiers invaded it.

Medics rushed to the camp and provided the wounded with the needed medical treatment, before moving them to hospital.

Eyewitnesses said the clashes started after a number of soldiers left the military base, close to the Rachel Tomb area, and invaded the Islamic Graveyard, in the camp.